Shoe and heel therefor



Sm. 9, am. 1,598,025

J. MCDQNOUGH SHOE AND HEEL THEREFOR ned ma. 2a 1921 3 O O I w y o 5f /2 i0 "j4 v e :ifo i? Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

JAMES MCDONOUGH, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO "WILLIAM R. MCDONOUGH AND ONE-HALF TO HARRY A, MCDGNOUGH,' BOTH yOIE CLEVELAND,

OHIO.

SHOE AND HEEL THEREFOR.

Application filed February 28, 1921. vSerial No. 448,587.

To aU whom t may concer-n:

Be it known that l, JAMES MoDoNoUGH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the count-y of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shoes and Heels Therefor, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention is based upon the discovery that heels, as they are commonly applied to shoes, are not properly proportioned nor properly disposed with respect to a line eX- tending from the center of the wearers heel to the center of the ball of his foot,-which is the line in which the center of the supported weight will fall when the wearer is walking or standing; and that the almost universal running down of the rear part of the heel outside of said line. can be prevented, and that many common foo-t ailments can be prevented and cured by providing a shoe with a rubber heel whose lower tread and weight supporting portion is equally and symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of said line, and whose breast or front edge extends transversely substantially `at right angles to that line.

The present invention is, broadly speaking', a shoe having a heel constructed and arranged as above stated; but more specifi-` cally the invention consists in a rubber heel lift having an upper portion which fits and which therefore may be easily and accurately applied to the heel of an ordinary shoe, as commonly made, and having a lower tread portion which when the upper' portion is attached to an ordinary heel, as stated, will be symmetrically and equally disposed on opposite sides of said line, and will have its breast portion in a plane substantially at right angles to that line.

ln the drawing, Fig. l, is a bottom view of the left shoe of `a pair to which the present centers of Weight when the bottoms lof the feet are resting on a true horizonal plane and the limbs are movingl in their normal direction. Therefore, when walking, the feet will be placed in a position that will cause the lines B-B to be parallel with the direction in which the body is moving, and parallel to each other, as shownin Figs. l and 2, so that the bones of the feet vwill rest in a normal position under weight.

The shoe shown in Fig. 2 has, as before stated, a heel constructed and applied in the usual way. lt will be noted that the breast l0 of the heel is not at right angles to the line B-B. It will also be noted that there is much less weight supporting material and ay much smaller ground engaging surface of the heel on the outside of lm he line B-B, than on the inside of said ine.

lVhen a. person wearing shoes is walking, the ground engaging surface of the heel of the shoe serves as the'base of the pedestal upon which the weight of the body is balanced, While the limb is approaching and until it has passed avertical plane. When the supporting portion vof the heel inside of the center of weight is larger than the supporting portion on the outside of the center of weight, as is the case with heels as ordinarily constructed, this unequal support afforded by the two sides of the heel tends to shift the weight toward the outside of the foot and toward the third and fourth toes thereof, and to impart a twisting strain to the foot and to the ankle joint, This is especially noticeable if the shoe heel is made wholly or partly of rubber, which yields under the supported weight.

This tendency of the foot to twist because of the unequal support on opposite sides of the center of weight is magnified and the resulting evils increased, if the rear edge of the heel becomes worn away or run downmore on the outside than on the inside of the center of the heel. And heels as ordinarily constructed and applied, are almost always run down in this unequal manner. p

To the extent that the heel is worn down outside the center of the heel the inequality in the weight supporting' heel material on opposite sides of the line B-B is increased1 and therefore the tendency to' cause twisting strains is increased. ln fact, when a so run `down heel put down on the ground it imparts a twisting strain because the run down place is outside the center of the heel.

As the heel is rising from the ground in walking the front or breast edge of the heel serves as a fulcrum upon which the foot turns to an appreciable extent. ln the ordinary heel this breast is not at right angles to the line B-B and therefore the action of this breast edge of the heel is to impose twisting strains on the foot and ankle joint when the wearer of the shoe is walking.

The shoe disclosed in Fig. l is a shoe hav ing a heel constructed and applied in the ordinary way, but to which my new heel lift has been applied so as to produce a shoe in which the present invention is embodied. The lift shown in Fig. 3, which is preferably made of suitable rubber compound, has an upper portion or layer 12, which is shaped to flt and conform to the bottom of the heel of an ordinary shoe.

This lift has also a lower or tread portion 14 which is proportioned and arranged in accordance with the present invention. This portion projects downward from the upper portion l2 and is oit' smaller area; but is so constructed and disposed with respect to the upper portion 12 that when the latter registers with and is secured to the bottom of an ordinary heel, this tread portion 'le will be symmetrically and equally disposed on opposite sides of the line B-B and the front or breast edge l5 of the tread portieri 14 will be at right angles to said line.

ln order that a heel lift shall be constructed that the upper portion may lit and register with an ordinary heel and the ground engaging lower portion of the heel lift be disposed as stated with respect to the line B-B, the upper part l2 of said lift is projected outward from the portion 14: in two flanges l2, l2", of which the former is a triangular flange in front of the breast edge l5 of portion lst, said flange being of increasing width from the outer to the inner corner of said breast edge; and the flange 12b being a crescent shaped flange projecting inward from the portion le and extending from the center of the rear edge thereof to the inner corner of the breast thereof.

A heel constructed and secured to the shoe as described provides equal support Jfor the weight on both sides of the line B-B in which the center of weight falls; and therefore will not tend to impart twisting strains to the foot regardless of the material ot which the heel is constructed, and regardless of whether the heel is run down or not. Moreover, the ulcruming action of the front edge oi the heel will not impart any twisting strains. ln fact, such a` heel does not contribute to the production otl fallen arches, but does much to cure them and other ailments due to twisting` strains.

Having described my invention, I claim l. A shoe having a sole and heel portion and a heel lift attached to the heel portion with its breast edge disposed at substantially right angles to a line extending from the center of said tread portion of the heel lift to the ball of the shoe with the center line of the heel lift coinciding with the line which is at right angles to the breast of the heel, the ground engaging portion of the heel lift being equally and symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of its center line.

2. A heel lift having a lower tread portion which is equally and symmetrically distributed on opposite sides ot a line at right angles to the breast edge thereof, and having an upper portion which is of larger dimensions than said tread portion and is constructed to lit and conform to an ordinary shoe heel when the breast edge ol the tread portion of' said lift is arranged at right angies to a line extending from the center of the heel to the center of the ball of the foot of the wearer of said shoe, the center line of the upper portion ot said heel having an angular relation to the center line of the lower portion of said heel.

3. A rubber heel lift having a lower tread portion which is equally and symmetrically distributed on opposite sides of a line: at right angles to the breast edge thereof, and an upper portion which is or' larger dimensions than the tread portion and which projects as a substantially triangular flange which lies in front of the tread portion and is of increasing width from the outer to the inner edge of said lift, and which also projects as a crescent-shaped flange at the inner side of the tread portion and which extends from the breast edge thereof to the middle of the rear edge ot the heel.

ln testimony whereof, lf hereunto atlix my si gnature.

J Ali/HES MGDONOUGH. 

